Israel on Friday carried out airstrikes inside Iran in retaliation for the latter's direct attacks last Saturday, leading to closure of airspace. Explosions were reported - at least three - in the sky over the cities of Isfahan and Tabriz as the missiles were intercepted and destroyed by air defence batteries. Many of the Iranian nuclear facilities are located in Isfahan. However, Iran said there is no ‘immediate’ plan for reprisal. With the US and the UK also warning Israel against further retaliatory strikes, a full-fledged war involving Israel and Iran - both reportedly nuclear-armed - is ruled out for now.
They offered to pay double the price of the items they took and pleaded that they would not repeat the offence, but the police rejected their offer, saying they had committed a crime and would be produced in the court. They were handcuffed and taken away.
The children were going to school across the river. Eyewitnesses said the boat rammed a pillar of an under-construction bridge at the middle of the river which was in high spate and, caught in the current, overturned. The rope used in pulling the boat from across the river also snapped.
While the universal apprentice scheme will enable the educated youth to stand up (literally) in a country where the people are trampled by wretched politicians, and look about for avenues to earn a living confidently, the provision of student credit cards of up to Rs 10 lakh will ensure each and every student of this country receives equal opportunities to fulfil their aspirations of higher education irrespective of their financial conditions. It will be a game changer. These are on the lines of what US Vice-President Kamala Harris visualised to be happening to the Third World when she hailed Ajay Banga as a transformative World Bank President.
Peter Higgs is the father of the mysterious Higgs boson, otherwise called 'God Particle', which gives mass to all elementary particles, and created our universe. His contribution helped other scientists understand how the Big Bang created something out of nothing 13.8 billion years ago. The equations of particle physicists which did not have a leg to stand on till then, the 'God Particle' came as a Godsend. The theories so far to describe the universe did not hold water.
It was only by 2012, after 50 years of the boson discovery, that scientists at CERN could make the big announcement that they had finally found a Higgs boson using the Large Hadron Collider.
Higgs instantly broke into tears, tears of profound satisfaction, in the lecture hall where the announcement was made.
LEGAL REMEDIES: Last year, on the directive of the Supreme Court, the Governor granted assent to one Bill, and referred seven Bills to the President. The petition against the President also challenges the Governor's action of referring the Bills to her.
The unprecedented step by the State may also establish that it always upholds the Constitution and the rule of law in order to pre-empt any eventuality of getting dismissed on flimsy grounds invoking provisions of the Constitution later on; and, also provide a thrust to an emerging platform of regional forces pitted against the ongoing centralisation of every subject and activity in the country under one umbrella where the States will ultimately 'wither' away (for some time).
OPINION: Made to happen as it does just weeks ahead of the general elections, the arrest may signal, if not the cause of, far-reaching consequences in the course of Indian politics. The Opposition charges that the ruling party at the Centre has unleashed the police to catch a leader every other day for corruption allegedly indulged in in the present or the remote past in order to incapacitate any concerted opposition to the ruling dispensation.
The “My way or the highway" man, Trump has predicted 'apocalypse' for Americans if he is not elected the President in the upcoming election. He sounds “extremism, affection for violence." As always, he is also seeing what others don't, and repetitively using words like "(2020) election was stolen"! And that's a symptom! Delivering a no-holds-barred speech at a rally in Ohio, he also predicted the US won't see another election if he did not win the November battle against the incumbent President. With his savage push against the God-fearing Catholic, and the heap of criminal cases pending in the courts, the unpredictable Trump's nomination exposes a season of drought of leadership of calibre in the United States.
The much-touted 'one-nation, one-election' argument was purportedly to prevent wasteful expenditure of the people's money, manpower and deceleration of development, but the committee report when implemented will end up paving the way for holding more elections than currently being held. Because of the logistics and democratic limitations involved, the committee was not expected by commonsense to be out of a loose end either! Those who are alive at that time, and further for ten more years thereafter, can count the rounds and compare with the present numbers. Therefore, either the agenda is different or the 8-volume presentation is faulty/made-up!!!
The manager has defended himself saying that dry ice got mixed with mouth freshener by the negligence of the staff...After taking the mouth freshener the customers felt a burning sensation and started vomiting blood. Five of them were hospitalised. Two are in critical condition.
Harmful effects of dry ice: Ingested, dry ice can burn your mouth, esophagus and stomach as it sublimates on contact with the moisture of the organs and turns into CO2, apart from other damaging physical and chemical changes it induces. The pressure building up in the stomach due to sublimation can also rupture the stomach muscles. It turns lethal. In normal direct handling it leads to frostbite due to the cold temperature.
One of them is seen in CCTV being shot at close range. The motive is suspected to be personal enmity.
TAILPIECE: Almost every other day we hear of shootings in one place or other in the country. India will very soon replace the US as the world's No 1 in the incidence of mass shooting. It will eclipse terrorism as a source of concern. Who can help? At least, has it occurred to anyone's mind?
'This Moment' of Shakti fusion won the Best Global Music Album at the Grammys. Zakir Hussain has won two other awards too. In a great victory for Indians, five of them have won the Grammys this time. In other sections, Taylor Swift got her fourth Album of the Year award and Miley Cyrus got an award for the first time.
The Government scheme provides ₹ 51,000 per wedding of which ₹ 35,000 goes to the girl, ₹ 10,000 for wedding materials and ₹ 6,000 towards expenses for the ceremony.
“Two activists from the environmental movement ‘Riposte Alimentaire’ sprayed pumpkin soup on the armoured glass protecting the Mona Lisa, this Sunday, January 28, 2024, around 10 am (4aET),” a statement from the museum said.
It is not understood how undesirable elements are allowed to get so close to her
and play havoc with the artwork. Several times over this has happened in the
past, deranged minds masquerading as tourists and cultists venting their frustration.
A Spicejet passenger had a harrowing experience inside a tiny claustrophobic lavatory aboard a Mumbai-Bengaluru flight when he found to his bewilderment that the door was not opening.
Two days earlier, in a similar incident in the area, a domestic help was bitten by a pet dog in the lift when she was going for work.
Tailpiece: Sometimes appearing to outnumnber men and women on the streets, the stray dogs are turning more and more daring with sections of anti-social elements out there to feed and protect them in order to find a window for their unfulfilled love! There is an all-pervading feeling of lack of authority.
Ankit Tiwari had told the employee that “instructions had been received
from the Prime Minister’s Office to conduct an enquiry” and reopen the
“already disposed of” case and asked him to appear before the ED office
at Madurai on October 30, DVAC said. The doctor was allegedly
threatened with arrest and told to pay a bribe of Rs 3 cr to avoid the ED
probe, which was later negotiated down to Rs 50 lakh.
Tailpiece: We are made to believe RBI, CBI, ED, Judiciary as sacrosanct
and all others like railways, transport, revenue, education, PWD
departments are composed of us the mortals, absolutely corrupt! As if in
the sacrosanct places the angels descend from the heavens to work in the
night and fly away before day-break! Let's be true to ourselves, we are all
cut from the same cloth.
Apart from cash, Gill had also taken three planes as bribe and two of them
were leased out to Redbird Aviation Academy. With the result, flying
schools compromised on safety requirements and trainers met with
accidents several times.
At that momentous event, "I will be thinking about my
mother (the late Shyamala Gopalan), who is looking down
from heaven," Harris said. The scaled back presidential
inauguration this time will have no precedent with a
devastating coronavirus locking down everything and a
heightened security bandobast with reports of armed Trump
protesters likely to re-enact the Capitol episode posing the
gravest threat to Biden, the President-elect, and others.
"We were taught to see a world beyond just ourselves. To be
conscious and compassionate about the struggles of all people."
- Kamala Harris, Vice-President-elect, United States of America.
She is releasing a series of her reminiscences of her early
period, of people and events that had deep influence on the
course of her life and thoughts, in the coming days leading up to
her inauguration as the Vice-President of America, the first
woman ever to occupy a position that high in the greatest
democracy yet.
The first woman Vice-President has become an inspiration for girls
of colour, and for all girls. Kamala Harris is becoming an icon. Her
passionate speech had a great, lasting impact on the listeners,
when she said, “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will
not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that
this is a country of possibilities.”
Yet another helpless Indian woman having had to go to Saudi Arabia in search of work as maid servant has reportedly died of physical and mental torture
by her employer, it has been alleged. However, the Indian Foreign Ministry has
said after an inquiry that she died of natural causes.
Unlimited excitement will be on offer in Dubai as Lionsgate Entertainment
and The 20th Century Fox are building theme parks to provide the audience an
illusion of experiences of timeless horror of the Titanic disaster and the death and rebellion of the dystopia.
PUDUCHERRY (PONDICHERRY)
Promenade Beach, Paradise Beach, Auroville Beach, Serenity Beach, Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Church of the Capuchins, Manakula Vinayagar Temple, Thirukaameeswarar Temple (Periya Koil), Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville, French War Memorial, Romain Rolland Library, Governor's Palace, Bharati Park (Government Park), Light House, Chunnambar Beach, Backwater Resort
Raj Kundra's properties worth Rs 100 cr seized by ED in Bitcoin scam
MUMBAI, Apr 18: Businessman Raj Kundra's properties worth nearly
Rs 100 cr have been seized by the ED in a bitcoin scam. The properties include a residential flat located in Juhu, currently registered in the name of his wife, actress Shilpa Shetty. Investigation was based on complaints that the accused collected approximately ₹ 6,600 cr in Bitcoins as investment in 2017 promising high returns.
Court puts off hearing on Kejriwal's plea for consultation with doctor!
NEW DELHI, Apr 17: A Delhi court has put off by two days consideration of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea filed on Tuesday to allow him to consult his doctor as his condition has worsened. The Rouse Avenue court will wait for the prosecution's response, on April 18, to take a decision! The ED argued that there are facilities in the jail.
Rajputs' Mahapanchayat for boycott of BJP candidates in LS elections in UP
MUZAFFARNAGAR, Apr 17: A mahapanchayat of the Rajputs held in Kheda village in Muzaffarnagar on Tuesday declared that it will “boycott BJP candidates” in the general elections from Uttar Pradesh as the community was ignored in the selection of party candidates. They also protested against the mounting unemployment and the system of Agniveer for selection in the Army. The mahapanchayat represented 24 villages falling under Baghpat, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar, which are Rajput strongholds.
97 drown as boat carrying 130 people escaping cholera outbreak capsizes off Mozambique coast
MAPUTO, Apr 9: A makeshift ferry boat carrying 130 people fleeing a cholera outbreak capsized, killing at least 97, on Sunday. It was headed for an island off Nampula province from mainland Mozambique. Most of those on board were trying to escape the mainland after misinformation about cholera caused a panic. The southern African country is one of the world’s poorest.
Pro-Khalistan graffiti appears on pillar of Punjabi Bagh metro station
NEW DELHI, Mar 29: Pro-Khalistan graffiti was found on a pillar of the Punjabi Bagh metro station in west Delhi on Thursday morning. "Delhi Banega Khalistan" was spray-painted in black on the pillar which was erased by yellow paint later. An FIR has been registered.
American style behavioural economist Daniel Kahneman dead
PRINCETON (New Jersey), Mar 29: American author, influential psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman died aged 90, it was reported on Wednesday. He was with Princeton University till death. He was awarded the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics for his pioneering contributions towards behavioural economics. His bestseller 'Thinking Fast and Slow' tried to reshape economics by proving that people are not "rational actors" in decision-making. He said you might trek far to buy a small thing just for its discount. But he did not fathom what goes far behind that decision.
Crypto wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
NEW YORK CITY, Mar 29: Sam Bankman-Fried, the crypto wunderkind, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday by a New York judge for illegal financial activities involving billions of dollars. The "spin doctor" can appeal. A Massachusetts alum, he had shot to the top of crypto world at breakneck speed. His FTX empire had imploded in 2022.
UK high court allows sale of Nirav property in London to pay creditors
LONDON, Mar 29: The UK high court on Wednesday allowed sale of PNB scam accused and India's runaway diamantaire Nirav Modi's luxury apartment in London. The property belonging to his family trust, purchased for Rs 60 cr, is likely to be sold for Rs 55 cr (£5.25 million). The proceeds will go to Nirav Modi’s creditors.
SC asks SBI to furnish complete details of electoral bonds, submit affidavit
NEW DELHI, Mar 19: A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Monday asked the SBI to furnish full details of the electoral bonds, including the alphanumeric bond number. The Election Commission has been directed to upload them. The bank CMD should file an affidavit by 5 pm on Thursday that it has disclosed all details, the court said.
Election Commission removes home secretaries of 6 States, Bengal DGP
NEW DELHI, Mar19: The Election Commission has removed Home Secretaries of six States - Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand - and the DGP of Bengal to ensure conduct of impartial elections. The Secretaries are in-charges of their respective Chief Minister’s Office. The 2024 Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1.
Telangana Governor Tamilisai resigns, likely to contest LS elections
HYDERABAD, Mar 19: Tamilisai Soundararajan resigned from the offices of Governor of Telangana and Lt Governor of Puducherry on Monday. President Droupadi Murmu has accepted her resignation. Tamilisai is likely to rejoin the BJP and contest the Lok Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu. She was earlier the president of the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP.
Deccan Chronicle quoted official sources as saying Tamilisai took the decision to resign after informing Modi, who had stayed put at the Raj Bhavan on Saturday night during his campaign in the State.